If the sales tax in your city is $12.5\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$66$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Solution: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${12.5\%} \times {\$66} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $12.5\%$ is equivalent to $12.5 \div 100$ $12.5 \div 100 = 0.125$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.125$ $\times$ $$66$ = $$8.25$ You would pay $$8.25$ in sales tax.